WARC Unveils 2025 Effectiveness Awards Shortlist

...Celebrates Strategic Brilliance Across Regions

WARC has announced the shortlist for the 2025 WARC Awards for Effectiveness, held in association with LIONS, spotlighting campaigns that demonstrate the power of strategic thinking to drive real business and brand impact. This year, 130 campaigns from 26 countries made the cut, as selected by five regional juries composed of 74 industry leaders from both agency and brand sides.

Asia-Pacific leads the pack with 38 shortlisted entries, followed by North America with 37, Europe with 27, the Middle East and Africa with 18, and Latin America with 10.

In terms of categories, Strategic Thinking emerged as the most competitive, with 24 shortlisted campaigns. It was followed by Cultural Impact (16), Instant Impact (15), Long-term Growth (13), Partnerships & Sponsorships and Channel Pioneer (12 each), Customer Experience (10), Brand Purpose (8), Use of Data (7), Business-to-Business (6), Channel Integration (5), and Path-to-Purchase (2), according to WARC.

"Guided by the universal frameworks of the Creative Effectiveness and B2B Effectiveness Ladders, our five amazing regional juries have drawn on their expertise and knowledge to judge diligently and with rigour to select the shortlists. Winning a WARC award isn't easy, so all shortlisted entrants should be hugely proud of their work getting to this stage," said John Bizzell, Awards Lead at WARC.

Winners of the Bronze, Silver, and Gold awards across each region will be revealed starting Tuesday, 29 April. All regional Gold winners will advance to the global stage to compete for the prestigious Grands Prix, which will be announced during WARC’s Effectiveness Show on Tuesday, 13 May.

The Global Grand Jury, led by APAC jury chair Matt Che, CMO at Budweiser APAC, includes:

• Christoffer Rönnblad, CMO Nordics, McDonald’s – Europe jury chair
• Diana Frost, Global Chief Growth Officer, Kraft Heinz – North America jury chair
• Marina Prieto, Sr Director Brand, Insights, Media and Trade Marketing LATAM, PedidosYa – Latin America jury chair
• Nthabi Motsoeneng, CMO Africa and Middle East, Pernod Ricard – Africa and Middle East jury chair
• Gabriel Barrio, Commercial Manager, UNACEM
• Maurice Igugu, CMO, Sterling Bank
• Talitha Rutten, Global Client Partner, Meta
• Teman Evans, Global Chief of Design, General Mills
• Venus Teoh Kim Wei, EVP of Marketing, Suntory Pepsico Vietnam Beverage

The WARC Awards continue to serve as a global benchmark for marketing effectiveness, recognising excellence in campaigns that balance creativity, strategy, and results.